Second Encounters
by BrusselsSprout
Summary: Enoch wakes Fitz up after the Loop is broken. They head back to Earth, looking for the team. But instead of finding his teammates, Fitz bumps into someone quite unexpected. They need to team up and try to find the others. This is the curious adventure of Deke and Gramps - what could possibly go wrong? Right?
1. Chapter 1

The Lighthouse was eerily empty. Still, it looked different from months ago, when Fitz first set foot into it. Then it was just a forgotten monument to an apocalypse that never came to pass. Now it looked like a battle zone; with burnt-out barrels, turned over furniture, supplies piled up in corners and part of the roof missing.

Fitz crept along the walls with his heart in his throat clutching his ICER tightly. Suddenly, he heard a noise behind a door – someone was there. He slammed the door open and pointed the ICER at the figure crouching in the middle of the room. "Hands up and turn around slowly." Fitz said on the most commanding voice he could muster, trying to fake a confidence he did not have.

The man spun around with a startled expression, which was quickly replaced by a wide grin "Fitz, thank God, man." he said his mouth full of candy. "I thought everyone just vanished. Poof. And really, I thought we are past the _point-the-gun-at-my-head thing_ and are at least in the _hi-Deke-how-are-you_ stage?" he accompanied his tirade by an array of unsettling gestures.

Fitz looked at the man bewildered, taking in his appearance – his scruffy hair and beard, not unlike his own. He was in his late twenties, early thirties just like Fitz, clad in a simple pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. His eyes were intense, it was possible that he was mentally unstable, Fitz thought. _But how the hell did he know my name_?, he wondered. Then again, their faces were plastered all over the news not long ago when the military was looking for them. He lowered the ICER slightly but kept his clutch tight on it. "Who the hell are you?" he asked the guy suspiciously.

The man threw his hands up in the air with a grimace. "OK, you know, this is not funny, old man. I came back here to check on you guys, because I heard of the mayhem and all, and Johnson is missing, in fact everyone is missing – and by the way, I did not blink out of existence, thank you very much, so I guess we can settle for once an all that we are dealing with a multiverse, just like Simmons and I…." the stranger rattled on as Fitz just stood there perplexed. The guy looked around, craning his neck in all directions "…wait, where is Simmons? I thought you guys had a rule. It was a good rule and bad things happen when you break the rule…"

Fitz ran his hand across his forehead in exasperation. So the nutjob not only knew him, but also knew Jemma and Daisy. Maybe he was hallucinating? It would not be the first time. "Who are you?" he asked again, stressing each syllable.

"What's wrong with you? Did you hit your head?" the man asked stepping closer with a concerned expression on his face.

Fitz raised the ICER again and pointed it at him. "Stay where you are." Then just to be sure, he ran his hand all around his head, checking for bumps. When he was satisfied that there were no signs of injury, Fitz shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

The guy nodded. "Good. Then let's get to the control room, man, and do that thing you do with your all-go-rhythm or whatever and let's find them. Did you hear the part where I said Johnson is missing? If you can find a flying ship, you should be able to find them too. Right? Right?"

Fitz stared at him in confusion. "So who are you?" he asked the third time with an exasperated sigh.

"Deke." he said spearing his arms, like it was a widely known fact that everyone should be aware of. "And you are hurting my feelings. I thought that meeting your grandson would make a bigger impression on you… It's good to know I'm so forgettable", he added sarcastically.

Fitz tried to process all he was saying, but his brain just shut down when he got to the last bit. He stared at Deke, mouth agape…"Wait…? What? My… what?" he said gasping for air and had to lean against the wall as he started to feel dizzy.

Now it was Deke's turn to look at him confused and puzzled. Then after a few moments of silence, his face lit up. "I know, I know – I've heard there used to be these things called "twins" – two babies who look the same… You must be Fitz's twin, right? That's why you don't have a ring… It's strange – mum never mentioned it… but right?"

Fitz shook his head. "No, I'm an only child. And I'm pretty sure I have never met you before, Deke. You'd be kind of hard to forget," he added drily. "So why don't you take a deep breath and tell me _exactly_ when and how you think you met me."

Deke put his hands on his hips and rolled his eyes. "Fine. It was back in the future – the bad kind, you remember? With no ice-cream? And in which you guys blew up the world? Well, you know when you and Simmons and Daisy were running away from Kasius' – and those Kree were not to be messed with, I told Johnson, but she was so bull-headed…- and you were injured. I saved your asses by the way, not that any of you ever thanked me – after Coulson locked me up." Deke said all in one breath.

Despite the confusing monologue, Fitz started to understand the story finally. He held up a finger. "Slow down, Deke. So you are saying that I made it to the future."

He nodded. "Yeah, a few days after the others, you kind of showed up with this weird robot, Enoch and broke Simmons and Daisy out of Kasius' slave bunker."

"Who's Kasius?" interrupted Fitz, but looking at Deke's expression, he just waved. "You know what? Doesn't matter – just go on. So I saved Daisy and Jemma, then what?"

"Then we went to the surface – and there it was…this airplane – which you repeatedly pointed out how you designed – and we flew back into the Lighthouse through a gravity storm, thanks to you two geniuses. I mean crazy idea, right? Then, Flint built the monolith and I saved you guys again, and poof – we were back here in the past with ice-cream and sunshine and trees and double cheese-burgers."

Fitz thought it was better to swallow all the questions about Flint and monolith not to be derailed again until he understood the basic outline of the story. "So I came back here with the team." Fitz repeated just to make sure he understood well.

Deke nodded and continued. "You guys kind of argued a lot about Hydra and gravitonium and Coulson, and this chick called Ruby who cut off YoYo's arms, basically all the end of the world stuff. And it turns out Daisy thinks lemons are weird, which is kind of mind-blogging." he wondered off again.

Fitz cut him off impatiently. "Deke – stay focused. So what happened to the end of the world?"

"How should I know?" he shrugged. "I figured - I don't know, just before I'd get stuck in the Lighthouse again for the rest of my life, I'd go out and see the ocean, you know. And you were right – it was cold and Tess was totally wrong because there were absolutely no sharkados. But still, it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen." he said with a wistful smile. "So how come you don't remember any of this?"

"I think I'm starting to understand now. Because it never happened to me. I started to go to the future, frozen in a cryopod to catch up with the others – then Enoch woke me up to say that the end of the world has been averted, so we came back to Earth to find the team. But it sounds like another version of me beat me to it…which by the way points to a time-loop..." Fitz slid to the floor with his back against the wall, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice, feeling unreasonably jealous of himself, and feeling utterly ridiculous about it at the same time. "I'm pretty sure there are not supposed to be two versions of me running around at the same time…Like Schrodinger's cat."

"I don't know who that is. But, yeah, that is kind of awkward." Deke nodded in agreement. "Especially considering…" he started to say something, but then cut himself off. Then he put a hand on Fitz's shoulder. "We should still find them, right? I mean… Daisy…"

"…is missing. I get it, Deke. I heard you the first four times." Fitz snapped back, then he took a deep breath. "Sorry. I didn't want to… it's a lot to take in." Fitz shook his head in apology as he tried to identify the strange look in Deke's eyes. Truth was, he needed Deke to figure out what was going on and he needed to stay on his good side as much as he found his behaviour or his ridiculous claim about being his grandson unsettling.

"It's OK, I'm used to it…" Deke muttered with a shrug.

They made their way up into the control room. Fitz turned on the computer screens and started to sift through the files history looking for clues. Deke watched him, crinkling noisily with a bag of crisps leaning back into the chair with his feet up on the desk.

"So you said something about the gravitonium…" Fitz turned to Deke. "Let's start there."

Deke took a deep breath, but before he could form the words, they heard footsteps. Fitz put his index finger on his mouth, jumped on his feet and pulled out his ICER motioning Deke to get behind him. The footsteps got closer… Fitz raised the weapon and turned to face the intruder. To his surprise and relief, he found himself face to face with May.

When she saw him, her normally inscrutable face lit up with a storm of emotions, Fitz could not quite decipher. He lowered his gun. May stepped closer to him, threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. Fitz forgot to breathe in his shock. May never hugged anyone, and most definitely, she had never hugged him before.

As he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her, Fitz realized that something must have gone horribly wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

May abruptly stepped back and she scowled when she spotted Deke behind Fitz.

"Oh, so you didn't blink out of existence. We were wondering." she said drily.

"Who's we? Daisy, right? Glad to know someone was worried about me." Deke responded with a grin.

"You know this guy?" Fitz asked at the same time, speaking over Deke.

"I wouldn't say worried." May rolled her eyes at Deke then he turned to Fitz. "Yeah, it's Deke. We found him in the future and he somehow ended up coming back with us. He can be mildly useful sometimes." she finished her assessment and coming from May that was almost a compliment. It took a few seconds for all this information to sink in. Fitz's mind was racing frantically. So, it was true – what the scrappy dude was going on about – it was all true.

"What happened, May?" Fitz asked her, determined to find the missing pieces to the story that was forming in his head.

May's usually impassive face betrayed that something was troubling her. She looked a bit hesitant at first, but then she took a deep breath "It's a lot to explain, Fitz. Maybe it's best if I show you. Come."

"Show me what, exactly?" the alarm bells in Fitz's head now were blaring at full volume. May was behaving strangely. But May was already walking away – so he had no choice but to follow her. He heard Deke's footsteps as he was trotting along.

After the months in prison and in the CryoPod, the sunlight felt like an attack on his senses. Fitz closed his eyes and for a moment he savoured the overwhelming sensation of the warm breeze on his skin.

"Oh, cool – it's like on one of those postcards Virgil had in his room." Fitz heard Deke's enthusiastic voice. He opened his eyes to see him approaching….

"Don't touch, Lola!" May and Fitz yelled at Deke in unison. He looked back at them with a bewildered expression. Fitz looked at May with a question in his eyes, but her face was impenetrable behind the aviator glasses she was wearing now. She motioned with her head and Fitz got in the car. In all his years of knowing Coulson he never sat in Lola. He reverently lowered himself into the passenger seat and ran his fingertips over the smooth leather. He resisted the urge of pulling out his phone and making a selfie to show it off to Mack. May pulled a lever under the dashboard and a backseat popped up. Fitz had no idea that the limited-edition Corvette had such a handy feature.

May looked at Deke "Are you coming or not?"

Deke jumped in the car, cussing softly as he smacked his knees. "It's much less impressive from the inside" he grumbled, trying to arrange his limbs in the cramped space. May stepped on the gas and soon they were driving on a serpentine by the cliffs until they got to a lonely rock perched over the lake. The rugged landscape reminded Fitz of Scotland as he tried not to think back how many years it had been since he last visited home. A dull ache settled in his chest. May stopped the car on ridge and pointed towards the edge of the cliff.

"There" she said.

Fitz could not see anything other than the rolling grass in the wind and the waves crushing against the rocks. He got out of the car with an unidentified dread coming over him and walked slowly towards the edge. Then he saw the simple greenish gray stone with the engraving:

LEOPOLD JAMES FITZ

AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

BELOVED HUSBAND

LIFE. HEART. HOME.

Fitz stopped short. Out of all the bizarre things that had happened since Enoch dropped him off at the Lighthouse and left him there explaining that his protocols did not allow for any further interference, staring at his own grave was perhaps the most disconcerting. He felt both horrified that he died without noticing and strangely relieved that there were no two versions of him running around. He was not sure if his already fragile mind could take any more strangeness.

Suddenly he was aware Deke standing next to him, mouth agape. "You got yourself killed." he said accusingly. "What if I suddenly disappeared? How can you be so selfish, man?" he was yelling now at the top of his voice.

Fitz ignored him turning to May instead with his most burning question. "Husband?" he managed to ask gasping for air.

"I can't believe, you died…I step out of the damned Lighthouse for the first time in my life and you almost kill us both…Not cool man, not cool at all." Deke kept going on and on like a broken record. May and Fitz continued to ignore him.

"I can't believe, I'm the loser who misses out on his own damn wedding?" Fitz ranted realizing how his voice was breaking and he banged his fist the stone, which he immediately regretted when his nerve-endings sent painful emergency signals into his brain. He started to massage his hurt hand and realized that it had been shaking.

"Fitz, calm down." May said on a level voice which she always used when Fitz was spinning out of control. Fitz took a deep breath and tried to focus on her words. "It's a lot to take in. Yes, you made it to the future. You came back with us. You and Simmons got married…-"

"Only because I put everything together for you. I even got you a ring to fit your little boy fingers, and a cake with Mickey Mouse and lots of Zima…" Deke interrupted. "It was a great party." Fitz stared at him bitterly. Even the nutjob from the future made it to his wedding – he was really the only one to miss out on it.

"Deke – not now." May waved at him impatiently. "And yes, you died on the day we broke the time loop." she added quietly.

Fitz tried to let her words sink in. He thought that he should feel something about this, but it was difficult, because how can one feel sorry about his own death when he's standing there quite alive. "I see." he muttered finally. And then he couldn't resist asking, "And how…how did I die?"

May's features darkened and then she sighed. "We went into a collapsing building, trying to save Robin and Polly. You, me and Mack." she said almost gently. When May used that voice, it was almost always bad news. "Polly and Mack got attacked by aliens and it was your idea to go after them – you saved them, Fitz."

Fitz pondered that for a moment. Dying saving his friend and poor Polly who has been through so much, all things considered…"That doesn't sound so bad…" he nodded noticing the strange way Deke was looking at him. "I mean it figures, getting killed by some alien…"

"Actually, you got killed by a falling ceiling…" May clarified as blunt as a sledgehammer.

Fitz winced, almost feeling for a moment the crushing weight on his shoulders. "OK, I take that back. That sounds really bad."

"I don't think you realized what was happening, it was fast…" she tried to provide the positive spin.

He pictured the collapsing building, but instead another memory pushed into his mind, unbidden. Fitz scoffed bitterly. "Of course. It's a fitting end if you think about it – killing Director Mace and all, karma coming back to bite me in the ass…"

May looked at him horrified. "Fitz. Don't think about that."

"How could I not –" he was thinking about it a lot. Every day in the prison trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he killed a good man. Deliberately. Ruthlessly. He could explain away Agnes or the avatars he killed, that was more like a video game – but Mace was real, and his death haunted him. "Don't you?" he looked May straight in the eyes – or at least where he thought her eyes were behind the shades. The silence stretched between them.

May looked away. "Sometimes." she admitted. "But, I think about this too: Mace chose to be there to save those kids. And you are the same, Fitz – you chose to be there to save Polly and Robin. Nobody forced you to run into a collapsing building. You chose that. When AIDA put us in the Framework that wasn't our choice."

"No, I guess not." Fitz conceded. He noticed Deke staring, his eyes really bugging out in a strange way. He suddenly felt uncomfortable that basically a stranger was listening into this private confessional of his sins. With May he could be frank – she knew exactly what he was, what he chose to be in there. And he knew everything she did willingly. But this guy, whether he was really Fitz's grandson or not, didn't need to know all this. It was not the time. He refocused his mind to his original mission.

"So what happened? Where is everyone?" Fitz asked, a dreadful suspicion tying his stomach in knots.

"Well, after you died – we all cried and then Jemma figured out that there is a good chance you were still out there – frozen in space travelling to us. So, they went to get you." May confirmed his suspicion. Of course, Jemma would figure it out.

"Daisy went too?" Deke interrupted again.

"Yes, Daisy, Mack, Yo-Yo, Jemma, obviously." May turned to him with a scowl.

"How?" asked Fitz incredulously. _Did they steal a spacecraft somehow_?

"Well, luckily he upgraded the Zephyr to a spaceship…" May started to explain…

Deke immediately butted in waving his hands. "Thanks – I mean Mack pitched in a little, obviously …"

May just shook her head and made the face, that back in the good old days, on the Bus, they just jokingly called the mum-face. "No, I meant him… or you, Fitz." she gestured towards the grave-stone and then at Fitz. Her confusion was understandable. The whole story hardly made any sense. Fitz felt a pang of jealousy towards the dead version of himself for solving the gravity problem that had been eluding him ever since he started working on the upgraded design. Then he felt ridiculous for feeling jealous of himself. Obviously, he would be just as smart as that other him. If that guy figured it out, it just meant any version of him was capable of solving the riddle, or was he?

"So, they are trying to find me, while I'm trying to find them. Figures." he sighed dramatically. "Can we send them a message somehow?" He resigned himself to the thought of waiting around idly for months in the Lighthouse for their return. He ached to see Jemma, to hear her voice, to hold her. He looked again bitterly at the grave – that guy lying in there was really lucky.

"That's why I'm here. We lost communication with them about a week ago and the last transmission is worrisome. I think they may be in trouble." May said gravely.

"They are in trouble? Daisy and Jemma? Can't you people seriously like lay low for a day or two and – I don't know – not get into trouble? It's probably a novel idea." Deke was again getting agitated.

Fitz and May shared a concerned look. Then Fitz asked her in whisper "He says that he's our grandson. Jemma and I." he clarified needlessly. "Do you know anything about it?"

May raised her eyebrows in an amused look glancing between Fitz and Deke who was still lost in a monologue.

She shook her head. "I have no idea, Fitz. I mean there is no resemblance at all… " She replied as she walked towards the car. Fitz wondered if it was sarcasm. May could do sarcasm. Then he glanced over at Deke who was standing like a mirror-image of him with his hands on his hips.

On the drive back, Fitz was mulling over the information he gleaned out of May and Deke, trying to connect the pieces like a puzzle. There was one very obvious piece missing, a glaring Coulson-shaped hole and Fitz glanced over to May, trying to decide whether to pose the question, but then decided against it. He felt like he could not handle any more bad news in one day.

May pulled a tablet out of the car and brought it into the Lighthouse. She turned to Fitz and Deke. "This is the last message we recorded, before we lost contact."

Fitz's heart almost skipped a beat when the distorted picture of Daisy and Jemma appeared on the screen.

 _"_ _How is the search going?" May asked._

 _"_ _Our radars picked up an object that looks promising." Jemma's voice was slightly trembling._ She looked pale and even with the bad picture quality, Fitz could see the dark circles around her eyes. She loved him despite everything he had done, the monster he had become. Her love was an almost metaphysical, like grace, radiating across the universe. She loved him enough to marry him. Fitz wondered if his other self finally worked up the courage to propose with the words he had been honing for weeks before the Framework. He remembered the rings he kept hidden in a box in the old base. He thought guiltily how much pain his death must have caused her.

" _Yes, Jemma thinks this is the one. So, we're trying to establish contact with it." Daisy continued. "Otherwise things are pretty uneventful. Piper won the poker game last night, and she says it's because you taught her how to make the "May-face" and yeah, we ran out of coffee ice-cream. Turns out that's everyone's favourite…And how are things in tropical paradise?"_

 _"_ _Daisy, look." Jemma interrupted nervously. "That doesn't look like Enoch's ship."_

 _"_ _Call Mack now…"_

 _"_ _May, we are under…"_ The screen went black.

Fitz got dizzy. He had to hold onto the table to keep his balance. He felt the bile rising in his stomach as panic washed over him. They were in danger. Jemma was in danger. He felt like he could not breathe for a moment. He was cursed to be alone. To be separated from them – from her. It did not matter what lifetime, dimension, reality they were in – they were doomed to be ripped apart.

"I came here hoping I can analyse the picture, maybe get an idea of what they saw…" May explained pointing to a dark blot at the right bottom corner on the frozen frame.

"Yes, the radar screen." Fitz nodded. Focusing on the problem helped to overcome the terror and he felt the squeezing in his chest let up a little.

"I think I saw what we need for that over here…" he pointed to one of the rooms adjacent to the control room. "It seemed like specialized equipment for optical image enhancing."

As he tried to turn on the computer though, it did not work. Fitz kicked the wall in his exasperation. _Of course, none of this old junk would work._

"Don't worry, man. We'll get this thing working in no time." Deke stepped next to him putting his hand on his shoulder. "I told you before, fixing old electronics – that was my thing…I guess it's in my genes." Deke started to unscrew the screws on the panel; his movements deft and precise. He looked back at Fitz. "Are you going to just stand there and watch me work?" Fitz sighed and stepped closer. They lifted the heavy panel to reveal the wiring which was in a disastrous shape.


	3. Chapter 3

Fitz finally managed to wedge himself into the corner in a way so he had a grip on the underwiring. "I think I may have found the problem. Can you get some more light in here, Deke?" he asked. They had been going through the antiquated system wire by wire, troubleshooting, but they still could not get it started. Fitz was getting frustrated and the constant background noise in the form of Deke's inane blabbering was not helping. Though Fitz had to admit – grudgingly - that Deke's boasting was not entirely unearned. He had a knack for it. Deke climbed in next to him and pointed the light towards where Fitz's hands were. "We'll know for sure once we run the sinusoidal solid-state analysis." Fitz added with a sigh.

"I don't know what that is, but I'm fairly certain you need to uncross the blue and the yellow wire right there." Deke said pointing in the general direction.

Fitz looked at him with a frown. "But… wait that makes no sense…"

"Well, maybe it doesn't make sense to you, but I'm telling you that's what you need to do." Deke insisted. "Do you want me to?" He tried to grab the tools out of Fitz's hands. Fitz yanked his hand away frustrated.

"No, just point the light." he grumbled.

"Fine." Deke replied. After a moment of silence he ventured. "So I heard you mentioned the Framework to May."

"Uhm. What about it?" asked Fitz trying to get his screwdriver to a difficult spot.

"Wait, you are going to electrocute yourself if you do that…." Deke pulled a wire away from Fitz's hands. "Did you build the original one?"

"Not alone, but yes." Fitz replied still only paying half attention. When his mind finally fully processed what Deke said he looked at him alarmed. "What do you mean the _original_ one?"

"So, I guess it was family heritage after all. Virgil and I found this old junk still with pieces of code in it. I rebuilt it.." Deke sounded pleased with himself.

Fitz yelped. "You what?" It was ridiculous to get worked up over this, because Deke was obviously a grown up, and even if technically he was his grandson – _still to be proven_ _as far as Fitz was concerned_ – he really had no business getting worried about it.

Deke continued unperturbed. "Well, it was just this bar. I had no idea what anything tasted like…"

"Yeah, I remember the bar – Radcliffe and I used to…" Fitz's voice trailed off slightly as he remembered the good times; watching football, drinking beer, wishing he had a father like him, but then inevitably, the memories of the bad times came. "You know what… you shouldn't meddle with things you don't understand…" his voice was cold now.

"Who is Aida?" Deke asked. Even her, _no its name_ , he corrected himself quickly, was like gut punch. Fitz gritted his teeth together and ignored the question.

Finally, he managed to untwist the wires. "Deke, can you hand me the grimpers?" he asked. The tool felt familiar in his palm. He took a look. "Wait, these are mine…"

"You know, Simmons said the same thing…" Deke grumbled. "And no, they are mine. I got it from my…"

"…grandfather." Fitz finished the sentence with a sigh. While he had to wait until he could run a genetic test to be sure, he had to admit that there seemed to be a lot of circumstantial evidence supporting Deke's claim. Fitz cursed softly under his breath as he got hit by another electric spark.

"Be careful." Deke said in a tone that reminded him of Jemma. He could not help smiling to himself, imagining her concerned eyes.

"Deke."

"Yeah…"

"Do you know what happened to Coulson?" Fitz asked the question that had been on his mind ever since May showed up in Lola.

"Coulson was sick – something about an old wound that got infected. You guys were arguing about it all the time." Deke replied, but then he grinned. "But at least him and May got to make out first."

"Oh, did they now?" Fitz chuckled trying to calculate who would have won the office pool.

"Yes, they totally did. I saw it with my own two eyes. Daisy had to save their asses as they were just standing there kissing, instead of – you know fighting or something…" Deke said with a boyish fascination and Fitz felt again a pang of sadness that he missed out on the epic gossiping Daisy would have started after such a huge event.

"Did he die?" Fitz asked with a heavy heart.

"I don't know… But I mean I didn't know you died either – that came as a total surprise." Deke said his tone still disapproving.

"Yeah, well, welcome to the club…" Fitz shot back sarcastically as he finally managed to uncross the wires. "You were right by the way – it was the yellow and the blue one…" Fitz acknowledged grudgingly.

"I told you so…" Deke inserted, "I don't understand how you can do that without understanding even the fundamentals of electronic engineering…" Fitz grimaced talking over him.

Deke shrugged. "I told you – it's in my genes." He climbed out from under the panel and turned on the computer. "Hey, the system is online." he announced cheerfully.

They fed the images into the system and Fitz tried different graphical interlays to figure out the mysterious dark shape in the bottom of the screen.

"Can you enhance it a bit more?" May leaned closer. "It's still only just a big dark shadow." Fitz tried to lighten it some more.

"Yes, it looks like maybe the wing of a spaceship?" Fitz squinted as the image.

"Maybe. Can you clear up this bit?" May pointed to a lighter spot.

"Yeah.. "

"I recognize this – It's Kree. I've seen this symbol all around Kasius' palace." Deke jumped to his feet agitated.

"Who's Kasius again?" asked Fitz feeling confused. It has become a pattern, and he did not like feeling so out of place.

"Bad guy, rich guy, alien guy." Deke replied with a shrug. "He was running the Lighthouse and was organizing inhuman exhibition fights. He was selling them to the highest bidder."

"With your help..." May scoffed at Deke.

"Oh, not this again. I thought that was bridge under the water." Deke sighed dramatically. "I'm pretty sure it's the other way around." Fitz muttered under his breath. Deke raised his hands. "Anyways, Kasius was obsessed with getting Quake…"

"So you think that's Kasius' ship?" May asked him.

"His father wanted Daisy." Deke repeated.

"Ok, but even if we know all this, what can we do from down here?" Fitz's heart sunk. Bloody universe. _How the hell is he going to get a spaceship?_

"What about Enoch's ship?" May wondered.

"Well, he left – he said his protocols didn't allow for any more interference. It's not like he left a phone number or something." Fitz replied dejectedly.

"Damn robots. Of course – suddenly he cares about protocols." May was clearly not a fan of Enoch.

"Maybe we could find Robin and ask her to draw another maddeningly vague picture?" Deke suggested.

"No. We are not putting Robin into danger again." May said firmly. "She's been through enough."

The tablet rang – May looked at it and Fitz could have sworn he saw a giddy smile on her face.

"It's Coulson." she said, her voice soft and dreamy. It was disconcerting.

"May – how is it going? Did you find something that could help us?" Fitz sighed a sigh of relief when he heard the familiar voice. At least he knew now that Coulson was alive.

"Yeah, well, I found Fitz and Deke." May told him as she lifted the tablet.

"Fitz – you made it home." Coulson said warmly. "That's good news at least." He looked more tired and much thinner.

"So good to see you, sir." Fitz waved awkwardly at him.

"Phil, it looks like they may have been taken by a Kree ship. Deke thinks he recognizes the writing as Kasius' name."

"I thought you only know how to count to five." Coulson teased with a glint in his eye.

"No, I also know zero." Deke said indignantly. "I happen to have a good memory for these things."

"So the question is how we find his ship and how we get to space." May gave her assessment of the situation.

Coulson wondered for a moment. "You remember when you found Talbot and me in the wilderness? Well, we got there with some teleportation device – it was at Hale's secret base. Quovas' ship had a similar device – and the Kree were part of the Confederacy – so maybe they have the same? You just need to figure out how to operate the navigation so you don't end up freezing your butts off like we did."

"That sounds promising." Fitz said nodded. They were grasping at straws, but he was willing to go for whatever half-assed option they had as long as it gave them a glimmer of hope.

"Can you give us some space guys?" May asked.

"Yeah, sure…" Fitz nodded and started to leave.

"We'll just find some food." Deke added and touched Fitz's arm. "This way."

Soon they had a picnic improvised from a pile of unhealthy junk food that would have made Jemma frown disapprovingly, but which after six months of prison food tasted like heavenly manna to Fitz. Looking at Deke's blissful expression as he stuffed a handful of Oreos into his mouth, the future was clearly also not a culinary heaven. Fitz used their break to draw up some schematics on a blank sheet of paper and explain some fundamental concepts of electronic engineering. Just in case Deke was really his grandson. Deke seemed to be both enthralled and flabbergasted by his explanations.

"So you never told me how Simmons figured out that you're our grandson." Fitz finally changed the subject.

Deke frowned. "No, it wasn't her. I figured it out. Why do you think it was her? Because you think I'm an idiot." Deke looked genuinely offended.

Fitz shrugged. "Don't take it personally, I usually think everyone is an idiot – myself included. Except Jemma. She's the smartest person I've ever met. So?"

"My mum was very smart too. You know she was – so much in her head. And she was kind and caring – just like Jemma. She reminds me so much of mum. She would have deserved to see this – to see the ocean, to have ice cream." For a moment his clown mask fell and Deke's face betrayed a raw emotion of a loss that ran deep.

Even though she was a real person to Deke, to Fitz she was only an abstract idea – a theoretical parameter in the grand equation of spacetime that connected him to the other man, somehow. Just one permutation of the possible outcomes. The pain, the loss was familiar though and for the first time he really tried to think about his daughter and to his surprise he felt a subtle longing. "She sounds wonderful…"

"You called her little monkey." Deke turned to him with a half-smile.

"That does sound like me." nodded Fitz, imagining a little girl with Jemma's smile. The thought warmed his heart and made him sad at the same time..

May appeared in the doorway.

Fitz could not help but look at her with new eyes – and see that there was a subtle change; a soft aura of excitement, joy and love surrounded her. "So you and Coulson…" It was more a statement than a question.

"Yeah." May smiled back daring him to continue.

Fitz looked away quickly. One did not poke the Cavalry lightly. "Good. It's nice." he muttered and nodded a couple of times.

"Ok, then, well we'd better start coming up with a plan. To break into the base, we'll need more bodies." May was all business in an instant.

"I have an idea where to start." Fitz replied scratching his beard. May raised an eyebrow questioningly.


	4. Chapter 4

"What the hell did I tell you, before you left?" Hunter's voice was full of scolding. Fitz could not blame him; it was a lot to take in, even considering their long history of crazy stories in SHIELD. It was not like he managed to process it himself yet.

He scratched his ears trying to remember the mad rush before he got into the cryopod. The last picture he took with him was Hunter's concerned, yet gentle expression. "That you love me?" Fitz asked with a half-amused, half-mocking smile. It was a joke, but it was also deadly serious. He could always count on Hunter, no matter what and the certainty that his hotheaded friend would always have his back seemed like an unexpected gift from an otherwise cruel and uncaring universe that he never questioned.

Hunter shook his head. "No, before that."

Fitz frowned. "Don't die out there."

"Don't die out there." Hunter repeated with a nod. "And what did you do?" he raised his voice dramatically. When Fitz did not volunteer a reply only a grimace, he continued. "You went and died anyways. And by the way, I can't believe you got married without me."

"Well, I can't believe I got married without me either…" Fitz snapped back at him now getting exasperated by his friend's admonishing. They needed a plan, not recriminations.

But Hunter was clearly not done yet. He shook his head. "This is just the craziest story – I mean I thought there was nothing you can come up with that would top the world-dominating sexy Hydra robot girlfriend…"

"Stop." Fitz held up his hand in irritation. He glanced uncomfortably towards May and Deke who were listening to the exchange – May with her usual scowl, Deke with his mouth open. "I told you I don't want to discuss that."

"If you're done, Hunter, can we get back on track?" May asked sharply.

"I see you're still all work and no fun, Agent May." Hunter grumbled, while Fitz just glared at him.

"Did you hear the part that Jemma and the others" Fitz started. "and Daisy, don't forget Daisy" Deke interrupted." Fitz continued "are missing and we need to find them? But in order to do that…"

Hunter sighed. "Let me guess – you need to break into a heavily guarded military facility."

"Something like that." Fitz confirmed chewing on his lower lip.

"We'll need to figure out a way into the compound." May continued rolling her eyes as she put up new images on the screen. "As you can see the perimeter is heavily guarded."

"It's a pity we don't have any more ferrets." Hunter quipped.

"Ferrets? That must be some kind of secret weapon, right? Like bombs?" Deke's curiosity was peeked. Fitz suppressed a groan, but Hunter was now openly glowering at him.

"Who's this guy, again?" Hunter pointed at him.

"It's Deke." Fitz said curtly, hoping to cut the conversation short.

Unfortunately, once Hunter got hold of a bone, he rarely let go of it. "I see. So I take there are no ferrets where you come from, Deke?"

"I come from the future." Deke clarified. Fitz's expression turned even more pained.

"That's the worst pick-up line I've heard in my life, mate." Hunter snorted. "And why is he even here?" he turned to Fitz.

"Well, FitzSimmons are my grandparents… " Deke replied indignantly. "So, I have as much right.."

Hunter's "What? So not only did you die and get married, but somehow managed to have a grandson in the meantime? Seriously mate, I only let you out of my sight for a few months…"

"It's plausible." Fitz admitted with a grimace. Then he turned to Deke irritated. "Would you – I don't know – not go around telling everyone that? Do you realize how weird that sounds?"

"Well, what am I supposed to…when this guy is attacking me, like I'm some…" Deke gesticulated wildly back at Fitz, mirroring his exaggerated hand movements.

"That's enough of the family introductions. Let's focus on the mission." May interrupted them, her voice sharp as a whip. All three of them looked at her startled.

"The satellite imaging shows that the weakest point is the southern perimeter – here. If we can create some distraction, the rest of us could sneak in unnoticed.," she explained.

"And once we are inside?" Deke asked.

"We'll take out the guards and find the teleport device." she nodded.

They debated at length, until the contours of a plan started to form. May's tablet rang and she disappeared out of sight with a wistful smile on her face.

"May's smiling? I guess the end times are truly upon us…" Hunter quipped.

"Her and Coulson are together apparently." Fitz nodded with a smug smile. For once he was ahead of Hunter on juicy gossip.

"Are they now? Talk about another clueless couple." Hunter plopped down on a chair. Fitz bit back a comment about Hunter and Bobbi not being the epitome of a well-rounded, healthy relationship either.

"I need a beer. Is there any beer in this godforsaken bunker?" Hunter sighed.

"No, but we have some left-over Zima from the wedding party." Deke announced cheerfully and ran off to fetch it. He returned with a triumphant smile on his face. "I'm always prepared." _Well, at least he seemed to inherit something from Jemma too_ , Fitz pondered.

"Is this some future-crap drink?" Hunter looked at the bottle suspiciously. He took a sip and his face was distorted with disgust. "Oh, that's horrible." He spit back the liquid into his cup and looked at Fitz who was nursing a water bottle with a knowing expression. "Is this really your grandson? And you never taught him something about holding a decent pint instead of this lemon-piss?" Hunter asked.

"Ok, so let's all just agree that even though we may be, you know technically, related, I've only known him for like a day… So I can't be held responsible for all of his shortcomings…" Fitz retorted annoyed.

"I wish we had that giant TV screen we used to watch football on - the good old days." Hunter put his feet up on the table.

"Fitz…" Deke elbowed Fitz.

"Let me guess, Deke, you don't know what football is." Hunter interrupted sarcastically.

"Oh, I know football. Of course – what, you think I am an idiot? There was football in the future." Deke replied indignantly. "My dad said that Bobo used to gather up all the kids and play football every Sunday. At least until the blue creeps put a stop to it…"

"Bobo?" asked Fitz and Hunter at once.

"My grandpa… I guess, you." Deke explained pointing to Fitz with a frown. The ridiculous nickname aside, it sounded like something his stuck-in-a-dystopian-hellhole future self would do, Fitz thought.

"So I knew your father?" Fitz asked.

"Yeah, after his parents got killed by the Kree – you took my father in and raised him. At least that's what he told me. That you and his father used to be friends – that you two had these legendary arguments about football." Deke shrugged.

"Yeah, your Bobo here is a real crap player, but he's pretty good at arguing about the game…" Hunter chuckled.

Fitz just glared at him vexed. "First, don't call me that. And second, I'm not a crap player – we've never even played together…"

"Oh, how about that time when we went to San Diego, and you got a bit tanked and ran around shirtless…" Hunter sniggered recounting the memory. Fitz stood up and quickly interrupted him before he could explain the whole story, vividly remembering the two of them as they tried to convince Mack that soccer was the superior sport. There may have been a bottle of tequila involved in it as well.

"Hey, Hunter, did you bring me that thing we talked about?" he asked.

"Yeah, is this what you wanted? I took apart Bobbi's kit for it, and she'll be pretty pissed." He gave a box to Fitz.

Fitz peeked inside. "Yeah, that will do. Thanks." As Hunter started over with the story, Fitz grabbed the box and the empty bottle of Zima.

He headed down to the space that seemed like the lab his other self and Jemma had improvised. It was strange to be in this small place – to walk in the footsteps of that other him, to sit in the same chair he must have sat. He imagined them working side-by-side, hands brushing together softly, debating space-time and the vaccine, maybe stealing a kiss or two. When he closed his eyes, he could almost feel Jemma's presence – her smiling eyes looking lovingly – no, not at Fitz, but rather at the ghost who was her husband.

Deke's hysterical laughter filtered through the corridor – Hunter must have gotten to the part when they ran through the lawn sprinklers.

Fitz sighed and unpacked the contents of the box. It was not essential to the mission at hand, but he had to know the truth. He was a scientist after all; he dealt in proof, not some fairy tale. He swabbed the mouth of the bottle, inserted the sample into a vial, and put the vial into the small machine that Hunter brought for him.

"There you are." Fitz spun around startled, and he saw Hunter standing in the doorway.

"Can you not sneak up on me like that?" Fitz asked irked.

"So what are you doing?" Hunter walked over to the table and took the vial in his hand curiously.

"Don't touch that." Fitz yanked it out of his hand and put it back into the machine. "I just want to make sure."

"That he's your grandson." It was not a question.

"We'll have proof soon enough. I'm running his DNA against the SHIELD database." Fitz explained.

"What difference does it make?"

"I don't know… I just want to know either way. Maybe it will help me make sense of this crazy story." Fitz nervously tapped his palm against his forehead. Everything was surreal – the story unfolding was so absurd that he needed a piece of evidence he could actually comprehend. To make sense of something in the swirling chaos.

Hunter put his hand on Fitz's shoulder and smiled at him encouragingly. They both stared at the screen in silence as the process bar was slowly inching its way to 100%.

"Four matches." Fitz frowned. He let out a deep sigh and clicked on the result, but he already knew it in his heart. He was not at all surprised when his and Jemma's SHIELD ID photo stared back at him – young, fresh-faced, straight out of the Academy. For a moment, he felt a pang of nostalgia for their idealism and innocence. They had no idea of the treacherous, winding path ahead of them.

"Well, congratulations, Bobo." Hunter smirked.

Fitz scrolled down to see the other two hits. He stared at the screen in utter disbelief.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Hunter asked Fitz breathlessly.

Fitz nodded in sympathy.

"Bloody hell." They said at once staring at each other bewildered.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

"Now, I definitely need a drink." Hunter glanced between Fitz and the monitor. "So tell me again – how is this supposed to work?" he scratched his head.

Fitz looked at his friend in sympathy – this was the weirdest thing in the long history of weird things they had been through together. And there were many; Creel, Lady Sif and the Kree, the alien city, monoliths that swallowed people… no he did not want to think about that last one. Really, it was a formidable list. He was painfully aware that it was not easy to process the idea of having a grown grandson, appearing out of nowhere, or if not out of nowhere at least from a future that technically never happened, and never will again, not in this timeline anyways. He was still trying to make sense of it as well. "I guess, there was a previous version of the future, where SHIELD didn't save the world and – just like in Robin's prophecy – there was an extinction level event. Apparently, you and Bobbi and Jemma and I survived – we all made it to the Lighthouse and had babies or…I presume..."

"But how?" Hunter interrupted.

Fitz shrugged. "Birds and bees, Hunter…" he tried to joke.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Right, mate. That's not what I meant – I haven't spoken to Bobbi in months."

"I guess the end of the world makes you rethink your priorities…" Fitz volunteered.

"And then our children ended up banging each other and resulting in Deke…" Hunter grimaced.

Hunter's words conjured up disturbing images in Fitz's mind - because well, and eewww… He frowned. "Hey, that's my daughter you're talking about…and yeah, essentially, yeah."

"So what do we do now?" Hunter wondered.

"What do you mean what do _we_ do?" asked Fitz stressing the plural pronoun.

"I mean about Deke…"

"Well, I don't see much we can do about him – he's a grown-up, so it's not like we need to work out alimony arrangements. I don't quite see how we could send him back to a future that technically won't exist anymore. He's an anomaly in space-time – quite fascinating really…" Fitz continued. As far as he could see there was nothing anyone could really do about Deke, other than accept that the laws of physics can be broken. That the universe is even more chaotic than he ever thought. And the implications of that were staggering, but also it was not something he or Hunter could immediately do anything about.

Fitz almost jumped when the voice of the space-time anomaly himself interrupted his thoughts. "I just came to tell you that May said…" Deke stopped mid-sentence and looked at them puzzled. "Hey what are you doing here anyways?" Then his eyes fell on the monitor, more precisely on Bobbi's generous bustline and his jaw dropped visibly. "and holy moly, who is THAT?"

Hunter jumped up and immediately planted himself between Deke and the monitor, blocking his view. "That's Bobbi, if you need to know - and stop looking at her with that face, mate…"

"She's Hunter's ex-wife." Fitz added helpfully while trying to suppress a grin.

"And intermittently current girlfriend…" Hunter hurried to explain.

"What's going on?" Deke looked wildly from Hunter to Fitz. Fitz looked at Hunter, his eyebrows raised in question. Hunter just shook his head. Obviously, he wasn't ready to have this conversation yet.

"What did May wanted you to tell us?" Fitz turned to Deke.

"That you need to pack more explosives and that we are leaving as soon as you are ready." Deke replied.

Fitz turned off the monitor and headed over to the armory. "I need to call Bobbi." Hunter whispered.

Fitz's eyelids started to grow heavy - driving through the big flat states with endless corn and potato fields reminded him of the big cross-country drive they did with Jemma after theit first year in Academy to celebrate that they both got their driver's license. The memory made him smile - they felt so grown-up, such a keen sense of adventure. It made him long for the uncomplicated innocence of those days.

In the rearview mirror he saw that May and Hunter who had taken the first two shifts of driving were sleeping in the back of the van. Deke - who spent the last few hours of the drive talking incessantly about everything they saw - he was excited about the changing crops, the clouds, the tractors, the cows - sat next to him and fiddled with the buttons of the radio.

"When we did this drive with Jemma, we were so excited stopping and taking selfies at all the signs for state lines." Fitz said to break the silence.

"How did you meet her?" Deke asked.

"First day of SHIELD Academy. We were both so young…but she was so…" Fitz struggled to find the words to describe how he felt when he first met Jemma Simmons. No, not a lightning bolt, but an inimitable sense of completeness, when a missing piece of a puzzle you could never solve finally fell into place. "... she was something else."

"You miss her…" Deke stated.

Her absence was a constant dull ache, but Deke's words made his longing sharper, almost unbearable. "I met her when I was 16. We have been side-by-side ever since..I haven't seen her in such a long time." He shuddered as he thought of the long months alone in prison - locked into his fear and confusion. "and to know that she may be in trouble, again." Fitz sighed with frustration. The bloody curse was real.

"We'll find them. We have to." Deke said with conviction. "And when we do, I'll tie your wrists together. At least for a while." he added only half jokingly.

"It may not be the worst idea." Fitz chuckled. "Though I think she'd be tired of me quickly. Truth is, I don't deserve her."

"Yeah, don't tell her that when you meet her. It didn't go over very well the first time around, man." Deke quipped. Then he became more serious. "The way she loves you - well, the Lighthouse wasn't a good place for... anything really... It was a damaged world; every man for himself. But my mom and dad - they were like that, I think." Deke said quietly.

Fitz nodded and thought about again their lost children - his daughter and Hunter's son holding onto each other on the ruins of a world they hoped to still save somehow. That they did save somehow. It was a heart-breaking thought but still comforting that they at least had each other. Deke looked away and stared out of the window lost in his memories. Fitz kept his eyes at the long, straight road stretching ahead of them.

Suddenly Deke's excited voice broke the silence "Look." he pointed at the horizon. "Is that? I've never seen anything like this…"

"It's a rainbow, yes."

"But... like…. how can there be something so amazing...?" Deke stuttered.

Fitz shrugged. "It's quite simple really, it's caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in the rain droplets - resulting in a spectrum of light."

Deke glanced at him with an annoyed expression. "What are you even talking about?"

Fitz caught himself and tried to remember what it felt like seeing a rainbow for the first time; a sense of wonder that did not require scientific explanations. Jemma would know what to say, he thought. "Yes, you're right, it's quite magnificent." he said. "Do you want to stop for a minute?" Fitz pulled over to the side of the road.

Deke got out, took a deep breath of the air that still smelled like the morning rain and stared at the rainbow. "You know every time I see something, and I say this is the most amazing thing ever - I see something even more amazing…"

"It must be quite an experience." Fitz nodded.

"Some days I feel like the luckiest person and on others like someone who doesn't belong here. I don't know anything- I don't know how to use a credit card, or how rainbows are made, or what are ferrets, or how to ...even drive a car…I feel like an idiot most of the time." Deke distractedly kicked a rock around.

Fitz recognized that intense sense of self-doubt; it haunted him most of his life too. "You know, I've only known you for a few days - but someone who can teach himself to fix electronics, and recreate the Framework from code fragments - is not dumb. You'll figure it out."

Deke looked at him surprised. "You know - you are very different this time."

"Different how?" wondered Fitz.

"More like the guy my mom was always talking about." Deke replied cryptically.

Fitz swallowed hard. He started to suspect that the previous version of him may not have been quite the jerk with Deke. He sometimes did that - it took him a while to get used to new people and he never did well with change - and this a big one.

"Deke…." Fitz wanted to ask him about that other version of himself, but then he was not sure he wanted to know.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to try to drive?" Fitz asked impulsively.

"What?" Deke looked confused.

"It's not that difficult." Fitz patted his shoulder encouragingly and guided him towards the driver's seat.

"OK." Deke considered the offer and chewed on his lip somewhat uncertain.

Fitz showed him the pedals and the gear shift. "Put your foot on the brake, now put it in drive - that's right…" Then he got into the passenger's seat. "Now on the gas, gently…." The car started with a sudden jolt. "too fast, too fast...break" Deke slammed on the break and the car stopped short. Fitz felt the seat belt cut into his shoulder.

"What the hell?" Hunter yelled and climbed out from the back. May appeared behind him glaring at Fitz and Deke. "Why is he driving my car?" Hunter asked Fitz accusingly. "He's going to crash…"

"Well, we are in the middle of nowhere - so it's as good place as any to practice." Fitz shrugged then turned his attention back to Deke. "That's it ….basically, just be a bit more gentle with the pedals."

"I think it's better if I drive." May offered.

"No, he got this." Fitz said. "Try again."

This time the car moved forward more smoothly.

"Just keep your hands up on the wheel - eyes on the road. Really that's all there is to it." Fitz said.

"You're teaching him all wrong…" Hunter interjected.

"No, I'm not. He's doing fine." Fitz replied.

They bickered for a while as Hunter hissed loudly every time a turn came up, but Deke got a hang of it and an excited smile lit up his face.

"Can you two stop arguing for a moment? And can we stop for a cheeseburger?" Deke asked after a few minutes as he spotted a roadside diner.

"Your… I mean Bobbi's favourite is cheeseburger." Hunter interjected as if it was a significant fact.

"Lots of people like cheeseburger." Fitz looked back at him.

"Hey...watch that." Hunter yelped as the car skid when Deke turned sharply into the parking lot at full speed. Luckily it was mostly empty.

"OK, then let's get some food and go over the plan again." May said and marched towards the restaurant.

"You did good." Fitz told Deke as he climbed out.

"Next time ask me, if you want to practice driving though." Hunter added.

Deke looked at them puzzled.

"Come on, I'm starving."

"Yeah, me too. Me too." Deke nodded.

They sat in a booth and ordered some food. Deke loudly slurped his milkshake with an ecstatic face. Hunter, who rearranged his fries in the shape of some unrecognizable horny beast looked at him disapprovingly. "Stop that…"

May used the salt and pepper shakers and the condiment bottles to lay out the perimeter of the compound. "So everyone knows their place?"

"Yes - I'll be here with Fitz taking out this guy." Deke put his coffee-spoon next to the salt shaker and knocked it over with a dramatic whack. It rolled of the table and fell on the floor with a loud clang. The other patrons in the diner all turned their heads towards them.

"Yeah, though hopefully with less noise. It's not a game, Deke." May said. "I need to know that you can follow the instructions and won't do something foolish. The same goes for you, Hunter." she looked sharply over at him.

"Oh, come on May." Hunter protested. "We have a long history of successful missions together - you know me."

"Yes, that's why I'm worried." May replied drily.

"Oh come on. Let's not pretend I haven't saved everyone's ass at SHIELD at one point or another." Hunter shot back.

"After you foolishly endangered them." May retorted.

Fitz shared May's exasperation. As much as he liked Hunter, he would have felt safer Bobbi watching their backs. And Deke, well…his grandson now switched to pouring syrup and ketchup over his fries… as all three of them watched with horror...yes, Fitz was not sure what to expect of Deke.

Fitz reminded himself that he used to be inexperienced and undisciplined in the field too. The Framework changed that. The Doctor had been on enough field missions together with May - he shuddered at the memory of the battles he never really fought and the blood he never really spilt that still gave him the cold-blooded instinct of a killer and the shadow that lurked inside him. He looked at May who nodded at him slightly - she had the same memories no doubt, too painful to speak of, but too vivid to forget.

When Deke got up from the table to go to the bathroom, Hunter turned to May. "You really want to leave Deke with Fitz?"

"Yes, that's what we agreed on." May said.

"I just feel like I'd be better suited to keep an eye on him." Hunter insisted.

"He'll be fine. Deke can take care of himself, despite appearances." May started to pack away her things.

"And anyway - what are you implying?" Fitz asked a bit vexed. He did not like the implied accusation.

"I just think he'd be safer with me, mate." Hunter shrugged.

"Oh come on…" Fitz snapped back vexed.

"Well, tell me who had to spring you from the brigg?" Hunter's voice raised an octave in indigation.

"After six bloody months. And even the helicopter blew up." Fitz countered.

"You're out mate, aren't you?" They glared at each other irate.

"Are you done, guys?" May interrupted. "Care to tell me what's going on?" she asked.

Fitz and Hunter looked at each other. Hunter nodded, so Fitz shrugged. "Fine. I did a DNA test to confirm if Deke is really our grandson."

"You needed a DNA test for that?" May interjected.

"I prefer the scientific method." Fitz deadpanned.

"And?" she asked with eyebrows raised.

"It turns out yes, but he's also Hunter and Bobbi's grandson." Fitz said.

"Really? Well that makes actually a lot of sense." May pondered.

"I've always told Bobbi that SHIELD was for her like a big, dysfunctional family, I just never knew it was actually a big dysfunctional family." Hunter's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Deke plopped back on the seat. "Whose family are we talking about?"

"It's time to get back on the road." May said.

"What about dessert?" Deke asked on a disapproving voice that one would use with an unreasonable person.

"Order it to go, Deke." May sighed and rolled her eyes.

As they shuffled back into the car, May took the driver's seat. Fitz and Deke sat in the back. Fitz laid down on the floor of the van to stretch his back and watched Deke work his way through an enormous ice-cream cone with relish. Dysfunctional or not, it was his family and Fitz was determined to put it back together as he thought with apprehension of the uncertain path ahead.


	6. Chapter 6

"Damn it." Deke swore as he swatted a bug that landed on his neck. "What the hell?"

"Keep it down, Deke. It's just a mosquito." Fitz shushed him. He was working on laying out the explosives around the perimeter of the military base.

"They are insufferable. How can you live with these things?" Deke complained, scratching his arms dramatically.

"The bugs are not going to kill you, but if the guards notice us, they surely will." Fitz whispered back annoyed. "Here - we still need to place the explosives closer to the fence. You should see the midges we get in Scotland. They are about this big and they are real bastards…" he added.

"Scotland?" Deke wrinkled his forehead in concentration.

"It's where I grew up. Maybe I could take you someday." Fitz added casually, realizing the idea was quite to his liking.

"I don't know - if there are bloodsuckers worse than here…" Deke groaned.

"Do you guys copy? Are you ready?" May's voice sounded distorted in the old-style walkie-talkies they found in the Lighthouse storage rooms.

"We copy, May. Almost - we still need to put in place the last load." Fitz replied.

"Jeez, what is this monster?" Deke squeaked and jumped backwards. The leaves rattled under his feet.

Fitz rolled his eyes. "They are just millipedes, Deke. Can we focus on the job at hand?"

"How can you focus in a place like this, when it's swarming with potentially killer monster things…"

"There is not much that can kill you out here - except the _homo sapiens_ …" when Deke pulled his eyebrows up in question, Fitz added. "People. Avoid those." he kept working with the timer without looking up. "Yeah, maybe also some poisonous spiders - Jemma would know." Fitz smiled as he could practically see Jemma's excited face trying to teach Deke everything about the creepy crawlies - she always found all kinds of disgusting creatures fascinating.

"Poisonous spiders?" Deke repeated with alarm.

Fitz shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm not saying there are any…but if you see any black widows, just... stay away. And bears. Definitely try to avoid bears."

"You're kidding, no? There are no bears here?" Deke repeated the question in the radio. "No bears? Right guys?"

"Are you watching the Discovery Channel or actually going to get ready at some point still today?" Hunter grumbled into the speaker.

"Hold your horses, Hunter. We're almost done." Fitz finished laying out the explosives and turned to Deke. "Do you remember how to detonate, Deke?"

"Yes, you explained. Repeatedly. In great detail. As if I was a child." Deke replied sarcastically. Fitz bit back a comment about Deke's generally childlike behaviour. After all, there was a valid reason for his excitment.

"OK, well- stay in cover. Even if there are bugs. Hunter and May will signal us." Fitz told Deke and took his place at a distance from him.

He pulled out his binoculars and watched Hunter and May make their way to the first two guards. The armed men fell to the ground silently. Hunter crept along the fence towards them where two more guards were walking around. May disappeared in the other direction. Fitz watched as Hunter dropped one of the guards with an ICER. The other one jumped onto him and they fell on the ground wrestling.

"Hunter watch out!" yelled Deke.

"Deke, no, stay down. Hunter got this." Fitz hissed into the walkie-talkie, but Deke was already sprinting towards Hunter. "Dammit." Fitz cursed under his breath and ran after him. A third guard showed up out of nowhere, his gun pointed towards Deke.

"Get down, Deke." yelled Fitz. Hunter looked over at the commotion, he got rid of the guy he was wrestling with a well-placed kick to the head and jumped towards Deke. He cried out in pain as the bullet hit him. Fitz watched in horror as his friend collapsed to the ground. The guard did not have time for a second bullet as Fitz took him out with his ICER. He knelt next to Hunter and sighed in relief when he saw that the bullet penetrated only his shoulder.

"We need to stop the bleeding." Fitz took off his shirt and put it on the wound. "Here, keep pressure on it." he grabbed Deke's hand and put it on the wound. "May, Hunter is down with a gunshot wound to the shoulder. I need to deploy the explosives now."

"I'll be there, hold on." May replied. Fitz spotted some more armed men heading towards them in jeeps from the compound. He activated one of the explosives - a big explosion went off deep in the woods, west of them and Fitz sighed in relief as the cars turned and started driving towards the smoke.

He pulled out the first aid kit from his backpack and turned his attention back to Hunter. He gave him a shot of clotting agent and a painkiller to take off the edge. Hunter opened his eyes in the meantime and moaned. "What the hell?"

"You'll be fine. Just don't look at the wound - concentrate on something else?" Fitz tried to calm him.

"Like the fact that you cannot follow a simple plan?" Hunter hissed in pain.

"Hey… now..." Fitz was about to reply with the long list of times Hunter failed to follow any plans.

"Think about millipedes. Or bears." interjected Deke.

"What? Are you delirious or am I delirious?" groaned Hunter.

"Well, I'm just trying to be helpful." Deke replied morosely. "and that's what I'm thinking about."

Fitz heard the click of a gun - he turned around and found himself eye to eye with another armed man. He froze as he stared at the barrel, but then saw almost in slow-motion as two familiar batons hit the guard's head and he fell to the ground revealing Bobbi's blond waves behind. Fitz stared at her incredulously.

"Bobbi, how did you find us?"

"Hey Fitz - so good to see you." she smiled and pulled him into a quick hug. "Hunter left me the weirdest message ever. I had to check it out."

"Don't mind me dying here, sweetheart." Hunter moaned on the ground.

Bobbi rushed over to him with a concerned face and looked at his wound. "You've had worse." she smiled in relief. Then she noticed Deke who was staring at her with mouth agape. "That's him?" she asked Hunter.

"Shhh. But yeah..." then he growled at Deke. "Stop staring at your grandma's boobs."

"My what?" Deke yelped and looked at Fitz. Fitz nodded.

"Is this serious, Fitz or some weird prank?" Bobbi asked at the same time.

"It's true - I ran the tests…" Fitz replied wondering if he should add congratulations or condolences. He settled for a grimace that he hoped was open to interpretation.

"What's going on here?" May arrived than stopped short as she noticed Bobbi. "Bobbi."

"Hunter sounded like you could use some backup." Bobbi replied. "And I wanted to see him with my own eyes." She motioned towards Deke who was looking at them in silent shock.

"You can gaze at me all you want, love." Hunter stared at her with adoration.

"Not you - Deke." Bobbi chuckled, but nevertheless batted her eyes at Hunter. Their moment of flirtation got interrupted, when three more guards showed up. Bobbi and May threw themselves on them. Deke stared wide-eyed, watching their acrobatic fight moves.

"The blond ninja is really my grandma?" he asked Fitz.

"She could take you out with her little finger." Hunter replied.

"Don't listen to Hunter. Bobbi is really, really nice." Fitz patted Deke on the shoulder encouragingly.

May and Bobbi returned, leaving the three guards knocked out cold on the ground. Fitz blew up the second batch of explosives and watched another convoy leave the base. "We don't have much time…" he said troubled.

"Go, find them, I'll make sure Hunter gets to the hospital. He'll be fine." Bobbi told Fitz and Deke. "Just...don't die out there, ok?" she added with a lopsided smile.

"Yeah, seriously, mate." Hunter looked at Fitz sternly.

"I'll stay here and take care of the explosives." May offered.

"You're not coming with us?" Deke looked troubled. Fitz was also surprised. He had assumed May was going to go with them.

"Coulson is not well. I need to get back before…" May did not finish the sentence, she did not need to. They all fell silent thinking about the grim possibility.

Fitz nodded. "Thanks May… if there is anything…."

"Just find them...you can do this..." she said. "Good luck, Fitz." Fitz looked in her eyes and remembered all the things she had taught him about field work, both in the real world and inside the Framework. She was right, he could do this. Or at least he hoped.

"Come, Deke." Fitz said and the two of them started running towards the building. It was mostly empty. They crept through the hallways searching the different rooms until they found a machine that resembled what Coulson described.

"This must be it." Fitz said.

"Yeah, May and I used something like this in Quovas' ship." Deke walked around the device.

"So you know how to operate it?" Fitz asked hopefully.

"Well, not quite. I know zero. It gets you to the last place they used it for…" Deke shrugged as he tried pushing different buttons.

"That's not good enough." Fitz shook his head. "What if it takes us to some remote corner of the universe with no way back?"

They both tried the different knobs with the alien writings. "These are Kree numbers" Deke pointed to a part of the machine.

"Looks like it needs coordinates - but how do you get them?" Fitz wondered.

Deke scratched his beard deep in thought. Then he hit on his forehead and exclaimed in excitement. "Maybe the map I stole has something we could use…"

"What map?" Fitz was confused.

"On Quovas ship…I .. here.. I put it in my pocket... " Deke searched the pockets of his jacket frantically, pulling out coins, rocks, chewing gum, candy wrappers, a match box, and a lollipop until he found the object that looked like a computer disk and handed it over to Fitz.

Fitz examined it, turning it around in his hand. "You stole an entire map of the alien conspiracy that you just forgot about?"

"Yeah, well, a lot of things happened in the meantime." Deke said defensively.

"OK, it looks like it fits right into this slot." Fitz pointed to a part of the device.

He inserted the map and the hologram image of what looked like a section of the universe popped up. They stared at it. Suddenly there were footsteps on the corridor. Deke jumped to the door and locked it.

"We need to hurry." he said. "Some more guys armed to the teeth are heading this way…if we don't find a way out, we'll be soon vacancies..."

"Isn't that the same symbol as on that spaceship that took them?" Fitz pointed at a Kree symbol.

"Yes, that's the one." Deke agreed. "Hurry…"

Fitz tried to zoom on the coordinates then they both grabbed the handles of the teleport machine.

"Don't forget to click your heels together three times." Fitz joked.

"What?" Deke stared at his heels in total confusion.

"Nothing Deke - forget about it." Fitz turned the handle. The next moment he yelped as he crashed violently into a wall and fell to the ground. He massaged his aching shoulder - luckily nothing felt broken.

He looked around, but the place was pitch dark. "Deke, Deke?" he whispered loudly but there was no answer. Fitz rummaged around his backpack blindly until his hand found the torch he has looking for. He pulled it out but before he could turn it on, he got tackled and pushed to the ground.

A figure was kneeling above him locking him into a chokehold. Fitz gasped for air as he finally managed to turn on the flashlight. The dim light illuminated the small cell and Fitz found himself staring into Daisy's eyes. Her hand was raised in a fist ready to punch.

"Daisy…"

The wild look in Daisy's eyes did not go away immediately. Her fist loomed threatening right above his head. Fitz looked at her in confusion - _did she not recognize him?_

"Daisy, it's me…came to help..." Fitz choked the words out. Finally her grip loosened and she released him. She stepped back and flopped down against the wall opposite him. They stared at each other, breathing ragged. Fitz patted the back of his head, where he hit the floor. _What the hell?_ he thought.


	7. Chapter 7

"Fitz." Daisy looked at him, her eyes reflecting an emotion Fitz could not quite identify. _Surprise? Fear? Hostility? Relief?_ "How the hell are you here?"

"I got dropped back on Earth looking for you and found out you came looking for me." his voice was hoarse.

"How did you find out?"

"From May," he replied and she nodded thoughtfully. She looked at him as if she was waiting for some additional piece of information, something she was afraid to ask. Fitz waited for the question that did not come.

"So you know that you…" her voice was hesitant.

"Yeah, it really sucks to be dead – or undead – depends how you look at it. It's kind of confusing." Fitz tried to joke, to resolve the tension with some levity, but Daisy's expression remained unamused. She sighed and pursed her lips.

"So what's the plan, Fitz?"

Fitz shrugged. Honestly, he was too preoccupied with finding them first; he had not really thought of a plan yet. He figured there was nothing they could not solve together. "I don't know - where are we?"

"On Kasius' ship."

"Just as we suspected…Where are the others?" Fitz asked hopefully, but at the same time dreading her answer. The thought that Jemma could be so close or that he could be too late filled him with unease.

Daisy shook her head. "I don't know - he separated us."

"Do you know what he wants?" Fitz wondered aloud.

She grimaced. "What do the Kreepers always want? They want to experiment, make a powerful army of freaks - take your pick. How did you get here anyway?"

"Some teleporting machine…" Fitz got up to examine the door, which seemed to be made of steel. "How do we get out here?" he pondered.

"Oh, well, genius, it's your plan, so why don't you tell me - did you bring something sharp?" Daisy asked sarcastically and got up too.

Fitz nodded, there surely would be something in his bag,"…to open the door - good idea - once we get through - can you quake them?"

"I certainly could, except they put an inhibitor in my neck. So no powers." Daisy held up her hands.

An inhibitor? Fitz felt apprehension. Even if they got the door open, without Daisy's powers, things definitely looked much more difficult. Still, there was no turning back from here. "Well, OK, that's a setback. But I've got ICERs."

Daisy scoffed. "I know and you do double digit push-ups too." Fitz frowned, wondering how she knew about his new exercise routine. Probably a lucky guess. "And how far are we going to get with a pair of ICERs, Fitz?"

"We got to try." Fitz was digging through his backpack looking for a small explosive to blow the lock on the door.

"No, you got to get this thing out of my neck…" Daisy said.

Fitz stared at her dumbfounded. "Me? How? Are you nuts?"

Anger flashed in her eyes this time, it was unmistakable. "Am _I_ nuts? So that's how it is? You only cut into me when I don't want you to?"

Fitz felt like the floor was dropping under his feet, sucking him down into a dark, black hole. So, something did happen between Daisy and him - something terrible that would elicit such a visceral reaction on her part. An unspeakable dread came over him that whatever it was, it had to do with the dark shadow whispering, hissing in his head - a hateful voice he had been trying to silence during the long, lonely months in prison. His hands started to shake as he turned towards her - his voice was barely louder than a whisper..."I...I... what?"

Daisy looked away and shook her head. "I see - so May conveniently omitted to tell you this part of the story…"

Fitz felt like he had to know the truth, at the same time doubted whether he could handle it. "What...what happened between us, Daisy? D..Did he...I ...do something?"

"Fitz…" She looked at him unsure now, yet her eyes confirming his suspicion. A shadow loomed between them. _Some hero his dead self must have been,_ he thought bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Daisy…" he muttered.

"Well, just take it out." she repeated impatiently, but more quietly this time.

"I...I can't… I wouldn't…" he stammered - the words seemed out of reach in the cacophony of violent, bloody images; fake memories emerging from the Framework. He wrapped his arms around himself as if he could hide away from them.

"You can and you did…" she countered. They stared at each other, their ragged breaths echoing in the cell.

Suddenly, the door opened, Fitz instinctively backed towards the wall, while Daisy sprung towards the intruder ready to fight. She lowered her arm as they spotted Deke's grinning face. "Oh, there you are guys. Daisy, I found you!" His wistful expression changed to a confused one as he looked between them. Daisy smiled, and seemed genuinely pleased to see him.

"Deke! Oh, so you didn't blink out of existence, after all." she said her eyes smiling and patted his arm. Fitz looked at their easy rapport with a heavy heart – he longed for the days when the most complicated emotion they had to sort through was a fleeting crush, instead of knots of hurt spreading across virtual worlds and lifetimes never lived.

"No, I did not…" Deke grinned back at her proudly as if not disappearing into the infinite folds of space-time was a personal achievement.

"So why didn't you pick up the phone I gave you?" Daisy asked annoyed.

Deke rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I'm sorry - but there was this bar - and they had this most amazing drink called Margarita, kind of yellow with an amazing green lemon slice…"

"Deke…" Fitz interrupted impatiently.

Deke frowned. "So, what were you two arguing about, anyways?"

"I'm telling Fitz that he should remove the inhibitor from my neck…since he's perfectly capable of it." Daisy looked at him pointedly, clearly challenging Deke to take a side in the argument.

"Or we could just use the remote control I stole." he replied somewhat smugly.

"Wait - you stole the remote control?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, don't look so surprised, you are hurting my feelings. You forget, playing the Kreepers is my home turf." Deke peacocked a little, then added with a self-depreciating smile. "I got teleported to the guard's room next door and it was empty - just dumb luck, I guess. I think it's this button." he said as he fiddled with the gadget.

"Nothing. Are you sure you didn't steal the remote to the TV? Maybe we could watch some Kree Got Talent..." Daisy quipped.

"Oh, you are so funny, Daisy. Wait - does this work now?" Deke tried a different button. Daisy extended her arms and they felt the vibration through the room.

"Yeah, ok now we are in business - let's go then." She announced and headed out the door. Deke glanced at Fitz and followed her. Fitz sighed, picked up his bag and hurried after them.

They crept along the corridor silently. Deke seemed to instinctively find his way around the ship, avoiding the Kree until he spotted a guy carrying a big tray. "Let's follow him, he may lead us to the others."

They followed him from a distance, arriving to a room that seemed to be the guards' quarters. Behind it they could see another steel door – a lot like the one that Daisy was kept behind. Fitz pulled out the ICERs from his backpack and handed one silently to Deke and another to Daisy. They burst into the room. Daisy quaked one of them against the wall, while Fitz and Deke both managed to take one out before the others leapt towards them and the room became a chaos of fighting. Fitz saw Daisy take on two more Kree, while a third one tried to ambush her from behind. Fitz took out the sneaky guy with his ICER, but he got attacked from the side by another guard, knocking the weapon out of his hand.

Fitz fell to the ground and the Kree was on top of him with his staff raised above his head. Fitz closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable blow – instead, the large body fell down next to him with a loud thump. He opened his eyes, and saw Mack grinning at him in disbelief. "Good to see you, Turbo!"

He pulled Fitz to his feet and wrapped him into a tight bear hug. "Mack!" Fitz managed to choke out. "Great timing!"

"How the hell did you get here?" Mack asked with a wide smile, letting him go.

"Uuuhm, the short way. Deke and I teleported… " Fitz replied absent-minded, craning his neck. "where is she?" he asked impatiently.

His heart almost stopped when he saw her, leaning over Piper who seemed lightly injured. As if she felt his gaze she slowly turned around towards him. Her honey-brown eyes radiated back the love and joy he felt. But there was also just a hint of sadness in her gaze. Fitz felt dizzy from the onslaught of emotions. After all the pain, all the doubt, here they were again.

"Fitz!" she darted towards him wrapping her arms around his neck. The world around him melted away; he could not focus on anything else, but her nearness. He wanted to tell her that she meant everything, he wanted to tell her how much he loved her, how much he wanted to hold her for the rest of his life, but words seemed ruefully insufficient to even begin to describe how he felt. He looked into her eyes.

"Jemma. I'm never..."

"Don't say it." she interrupted him, her face betraying an inner storm he did not fully understand. Instead she leaned towards him and silenced him with a kiss. As their lips fused together, a fleeting thought came into Fitz's mind that despite being in an unknown corner of the universe, in an alien spaceship - he was home…

The magic of the moment was broken as someone not-so-discreetly cleared his throat right next to them. Fitz was not the least bit surprised that it was Deke. "I don't want to interrupt this moment…" he started.

"Deke, you didn't blink…" Jemma smiled at him widely.

Deke snapped. "No, I didn't blink out of existence...what's up with everyone? I thought you told me that would be extremely unlikely…" He was clearly riled up.

Jemma just laughed and surprised Deke by pulling him into their hug. As Fitz's arm wrapped around the shoulder of his grandson, another lump was forming in his throat. Before he went into the cryopod determined to save the team, for so long, he felt he was all alone. Abandoned by everyone he loved – a personal hell designed to make him pay for his sins. Yet he woke up to find a family. A highly unconventional one – but still, a family of his own. Maybe he was being pranked by the cosmos, but it honestly felt like an undeserved blessing.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mack's nervous voice "Where is Elena? I thought she was with you…" he looked at Daisy.

She shook her head. "I haven't seen her since we were taken…"

"We have to find her…" Mack's voice was full of determination. They all nodded.

"I can help you…" a young Kree, whose face was painted pale white stepped out of the shadow.

Daisy spun around ready to fight him, but Jemma interrupted. "Wait! He helped us get out of holding. I believe he can help us again."

Daisy looked at Mack, who nodded. They all stared at the boy.

Deke frowned and as recognition dawned on his face he yelped "Wait, isn't that…?"


	8. Chapter 8

"I know where my father is keeping her. But first, you promised me something," young Kasius looked at Mack.

"How about I promise not to kill you." asked Daisy curling her hands into a fist.

The boy gulped, clearly intimidated, but looked back at them defiantly. "That's not the deal with made."

Deke's eye darkened. "We don't need you - we can find her on our own."

"You may find her, but you won't be able to save her." The Kree said calmly, although his twitching eye-brows betrayed his nervousness.

Mack looked at him like he was about to crush him, then he clenched his jaws and nodded. "We'll help."

"It's better if we go in a smaller group." Kasius explained.

"You think it's a good idea to let this guy split us up?" Deke yelled incredulously.

"We don't have much choice. Daisy, you are with me." Mack ordered. "Piper, Davis, stay here with FitzSimmons, keep the door locked. You too, Deke."

"No way, I'm going with her." Deke pointed at Daisy. "If he leads you into the trap, you'll need me."

"Yes, how would we possibly survive without you?" Daisy's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, I lose sight of you and you get yourselves killed and captured." Deke retorted. "I'm the only one who can find his way around here."

"I'm not so sure about that," grumbled Mack. Deke crossed his arms and stared at him like a toddler about to throw a tantrum. Mack relented. "Fine. You can come, but stay back.."

"Be careful, guys." Piper closed the door behind them. "Stay in the back room, we'll guard the entrance with Davis," she told Jemma. Fitz suspected it was as much to give them some privacy as for their protection, but in either case they did not argue.

"So what's the deal with the kid?" Fitz asked Jemma as they sat down next to the wall. He kept his arm wrapped around her shoulders, basking in her closeness. It was still unbelievable that after the long months of separation she was in his arms.

"His father forbade him to be with his girlfriend and locked her up. We promised to help him reunite with her and take control over the ship." she replied with a triumphant glimmer in her eye that meant she was quite pleased with her own resourcefulness. "Never underestimate the elemental power of teenage angst."

Fitz could not help smiling. She had changed so much, yet in some ways not at all. He was always drawn to her self-confidence, a quality he sorely lacked. "That's pretty smart. How did you figure it out?"

Jemma grimaced. "Well, since I was his slave in the future - I had plenty of time to observe that particular love affair. But you figured out his father issues…" she added with a sad smile.

"Me?"

Jemma sighed, then gave him a concerned look. "Oh, Fitz, there's so much to tell - and I ..I don't know how to even start…" he could see tears pooling in her eyes. He was not completely sure if those teardrops were for him or for that other guy she lost.

He grabbed her hand. "Don't worry - I think, I got most of the picture by now; I went to the future, and came back with you and I died." He said lightly, but his words just opened the floodgates and the tears started rolling down her face. Fitz realized that while for him his demise was just a weird, disorienting story, for her it was all too real. He gently wiped away the tears and embraced her. "I'm sorry - that must have been hard for you." Fitz whispered into her hair and waited until her sobs subsided.

She nodded then looked at him smiling through the tears. "You missed a part…" she said quietly and he heard the nervousness in her voice.

He smiled back at her hesitantly. "Yes, I've heard that too." He took her hand in his and played with the ring on her finger. It was a simple band with a small white pearl. It looked like something he might have chosen if he ever had the chance. He had planned to do it - he had agonized so long about the perfect ring, the perfect timing, the perfect proposal that the events overtook him. Not for the first time he felt, if there was really a curse, it was all the times he hesitated.

"How did that make you feel?" Her fidgeting fingers betrayed the tension in her.

"Like the loser who slept through his own wedding." he gave her a lopsided grin. "And insanely happy once I got over that part." he added and held her hand in his. He looked in her eyes searching for a clue, and when he only saw warmth and love in her gaze, he kissed her lips softly. "Wife." He tasted the word on his lips, like biting into an exotic fruit for the first time. It was new, and a bit strange, but in a good way. It felt right - it had been inevitable, decided maybe at the moment they met.

Jemma's eyelids fluttered for a moment and he was afraid for that he overstepped a boundary he had no right to cross. Maybe he was an impostor after all, trying to be someone he was not. But his moment of doubt was dispelled as she cupped his face and kissed him back. "I missed you so much, husband." she whispered, her eyes shining with a storm of emotions. The reality of the word hit him for the first time - and he felt his heart pound faster. It was a simple moment, yet it felt like an oath - nothing more was needed, they understood each other perfectly.

Jemma broke their silent embrace. "So you met Deke then too…"

Fitz smirked. "Yeah, we kind of stumbled into each at the Lighthouse. He's useful sometimes - he helped me save you."

Jemma frowned. "Wait, I seem to remember _we_ saved you."

Fitz was game - their banter was familiar ground, somewhere safe after the quagmire of confusing emotions about missed weddings and dead alter egos. "Only because we already took out all the guards."

Jemma shook her head. "I had a plan - Kasius was going to sneak us onto the Zephyr…"

"You know what? It doesn't matter." he sighed and raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm just glad to be with you finally, Jemma. It feels like a lifetime…" She put her hand on his thigh, sending warm tingles around his body. Her touch was intensely familiar and slightly possessive in an oblivious way. Fitz loved it when she claimed him this way.

She must have seen the way he looked at her, because her cheeks flushed, the rosy colour travelling down all the way to her neckline. It was mesmerizing. She looked away and turned the subject back to Deke. "So you know that Deke is our…"

"Yep." Fitz laughed. "How crazy is that? And I do you one better - I also know who Deke's other grandparents are." When Jemma looked at him with a question, he replied with a wide smile, pleased that for once he was ahead of the information curve. "Hunter and Bobbi."

"What? Wait…. How do you know that?" Jemma looked at him incredulously.

He shrugged meekly. "I kind of ran a genetics test."

Jemma rolled her eyes at him. "Of course you did...Hunter and Bobbi. That explains some things."

"Maybe some things are better left unexplained." Fitz grinned.

"I'm glad you seem to get along better this time."

"I'm starting to think the other version of me was quite the jerk sometimes...I'm sorry..." Fitz was wondering if he should bring up all the weirdness with Daisy, but Jemma looked away, her face again reflecting pain and doubt.

"I don't know if I can explain to you how hard it was, Fitz. We all had to make impossible choices, we were all on edge. But you tried your best, we both did." she said.

He nodded, but felt a pang of pain that he was not there to support her, even if some version of him was. The moment of feeling whole was gone - he felt irrevocably fragmented again.

There was a crash as Deke arrived at the doorway. "We are on the move," he announced breathlessly.

-0-0-0-0-0

Kasius, who was clutching the hand of a skinny blue girl with a single braid, led them to a small chamber. Even though they were on an alien ship, it was unmistakably a lab.

Elena was lying on a bed; pale, unconscious, tubes sticking out from her body. Fitz realized with silent horror as he stepped closer that both her arms were replaced by robot arms. Apparently, he was not the only one who paid dearly for breaking the Loop.

Jemma checked her vitals. "She seems to be in some kind of medically induced coma."

Kasius turned to speak to the blue alien, presumably the doctor who was the only other person they encountered in the room.

"How do we know we can trust him?" Deke hissed looking towards Kasius. "He had my mother killed." His eyes reflected the raw pain of the loss. Fitz looked at Jemma and he was quite sure she was also thinking of their daughter who slipped away with the Loop.

"And we killed him and his girlfriend." whispered Jemma. "It was a different time. We can't trust him, but our interests are aligned for now." she added.

"What did they do to her?" Mack was holding Elena's hands, his eyes dark with anger.

"She'll be fine. The Doctor will give her something to heal her. My father thinks that inhumans are a key to create an indestructible army." Kasius told him.

"And you?" Daisy's question sounded like a sharp whip.

"I believe in beauty, I have no interest in war." Kasius smiled wistfully.

"Do you believe him?" All eyes turned to Jemma.

"Just because he made bad choices once, doesn't mean he'll always make the same choices. Maybe he deserves a second chance, free of his father." she said and Fitz had the distinct feeling she wasn't just talking about Kasius.

The Kree doctor was finished with his preparations and whispered something to Kasius. "You need to administer this to her."

"What is this?" Mack frowned looking at the vial with suspicion.

"It will bring her back - it's made from Kree blood, which seems to hold healing properties to humans." Kasius reassured him. Jemma took the vial and held it against the light.

"Looks like the GH-325 - it saved Coulson and Daisy, it could save Elena." she told Mack.

Mack turned to Kasius and said curtly "Do it." The Doctor injected the serum and they watched intently as Elena's colour slowly returned to her face.

Jemma checked her pulse on her neck and smiled. "It's working." Mack let out a sigh of relief and laid his palm on her face as her breaths started to come out stronger.

"I wish we had this earlier - it may have helped Coulson too…" Jemma said sadly. Silence descended on the lab as they all thought of the man they lost.

Fitz frowned and grabbed Jemma's hand. "Maybe it's not too late, Jemma - Coulson is still alive…"

"He's alive?" Daisy exclaimed, her voice full of hope.

"We talked to him before we left." Deke confirmed and stepped closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We could try to save him." They looked at each other.

"But he didn't want us to…" Daisy's voice was uncertain.

"That was then… maybe his little tropical vacation with May brought back his mojo." Deke grinned.

"There's no way we'll get back on time." Jemma said heavily.

Fitz looked at her. "There's a way. We could teleport back."

"Go! We'll finish things here with young Kasius and come back with the Zephyr." Mack told them.

"You don't need us here?" Jemma asked looking at Yo-Yo.

"He needs you more. Go." Fitz grabbed the vial, held Jemma's hand and they started to run in the direction of the teleporting device.

-S-S-S-S-S-S

 **Tahiti, 2 days later**

They ran through the hospital corridors breathlessly until they found Coulson's room. They came to a halt as they saw May standing outside motionless, watching him through the window. Her stillness was not her usual zen, but rather someone frozen in terror. As they stepped closer they could see Coulson lying in the bed, tied up to tubes and machines. He looked small and helpless; a ghost of the man they knew him to be.

"May." Jemma said on a low voice.

As she turned around they could see the tears in her eyes. It was upsetting to see her cry; May never cried.

She hugged Jemma. "I'm glad you made it back. He slipped into a coma last night. The doctors don't think he'll come out of it."

"May, we have brought something that could help." Jemma showed her the vial.

A glimmer of hope lit up her eyes. "What is it?"

"It's similar to GH-325. We got it at the Kree ship." Jemma explained.

May looked around as if for the first time realizing that it was just the two of them."Where are the others?"

"They are ok. They will come with the Zephyr." Fitz told her. "We came ahead to try to save Coulson."

May nodded. "Do it."

Jemma stepped inside the sterile room which must have triggered a hospital alarm as a doctor came running to the room yelling. "Stop. What do you think you are doing? You could kill him…"

"Isn't it it your prognosis?" Jemma replied sharply.

"This is still against the rules." The doctor retorted looking at May and Fitz, looking for support.

"This is out of your hand now. He gave me full medical proxy and I trust her to do this." May said calmly.

Jemma injected the vial and they watched intently as Coulson's heartbeat first spiked, but then evened out and his vitals came back to normal. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around in confusion until he zeroed in on May's smiling eyes. His face softened immediately.

"I guess I didn't die…" his voice was hoarse.

"I told you that I'm not done with you yet." May held his hand and beamed at him through her tears.

"And you went against my wish." Coulson looked at Jemma.

"We are SHIELD, sir - our duty is to save lives…"

"Thank you Jemma. I can always count on you to go against an order." Coulson grinned then he added more softly nodding towards Fitz who was standing back awkwardly, watching the scene unfold. Ever since he learnt from Jemma that Coulson was dying because of the deal he made with the Ghost Rider, he felt intense guilt about it. "I'm glad you found him."

"Technically, he found me." Jemma corrected him with a laugh.

"Fitz." Coulson looked at him. Fitz stepped closer, a bit unsure where his place was. Coulson extended his arm and surprised Fitz by pulling him into a warm hug. He felt the lump form in his throat that despite all the mistakes he made, all the suffering unleashed, all because of the man he thought could be his father, the only father that ever mattered was right in front of him the whole time, holding him through all darkness; fear, doubt, loss, sadness, anger, regret, self-loathing, pain. Things got bad, but they were bearable, because of Coulson's gentle presence.

"It's good to see you, sir." he said, unshed tears of regret and joy echoing in his voice.

"Second chances are rare, I'm telling this as one dead man to another. So why are you still standing here and wasting it? I'm pretty sure the doctors got it after this." Coulson looked at them mischievously. "And you two look more in need of a real bed than I am."

They followed May out of the room. "Coulson's right. You must be exhausted. Here, take the key to our bungalow, there's a spare room. I suppose we won't be back for a while," she added her features back to the neutral mask she wore all the time. "Thank you for saving him."

"It was our wrong to right, May." Jemma said squeezing Fitz's hand referring back to a conversation they had what seemed like a lifetime ago. She promised him that they would fix things together - and they did.

As they sat in the back of the taxi holding other's hand, Fitz watched the bright blue sky, the sparkling azure sea, the white sand and it felt surreal after the darkness of space and prison, a place with so much light, such vivid colours could exist.

They paid the driver and stepped inside the bungalow that was right next to the shore. They could hear the soothing sound of the waves rolling into the sand even inside. The spare room was simple, but stylish with crisp white linen and dark wood. They stared mesmerized at the large king-size bed. "A real bed." Jemma sighed longingly, looking despondently at her dirty, ragged clothes.

They stumbled to the bathroom, which had a large tub, shed their filthy garments and as they immersed themselves in the hot, scented bubbles, Fitz sighed contentedly. "Coulson was right. It is magical."

Jemma hummed her agreement then she smiled mischievously. "So we do get a honeymoon after all."

Fitz wondered about the strange remark, but decided to let it go. There would be time to figure out everything that happened in the past, and in that evasive future - the present was too precious to waste. Maybe his previous self was a lucky guy who got to marry Jemma, but he got the honeymoon and might as well start making memories. He started blowing soft kisses on her neckline and murmured. "And finally we are on our own."

"I just wish we had clean clothes." she sighed.

"We don't need any clothes for what I have in mind…" Fitz smiled seductively and embraced her tighter.


	9. Chapter 9

****3 Months Later****

"Do you have the rings?" Fitz asked nervously.

Hunter let out a loud sigh. "For the tenth time today, Fitzy. Chill. The rings are safe." He was sitting on the only armchair of the hotel room with his feet up on the desk. Fitz squinted; something was strange about him…

"Why are you even wearing sunglasses inside?" Fitz frowned.

"Bloody hangover." Hunter moaned.

Fitz handed him two pills and a bottle of water with a scowl. "Well, like I said, we should have skipped the last tequila bar."

"It was a stag party for the ages…" grinned Hunter but then grabbed his head as his face contorted with pain.

"I think, I'll stick to the Zima next time." Deke appeared in the doorway and plopped down on Fitz's unmade bed.

"Do you need something Deke?" He was wearing a white shirt and dark gray dress-pants, just like Fitz and Hunter. Fitz couldn't recall ever seeing him in anything other than jeans and T-shirts. He looked kind of nice, all grown-up in a suit.

"Yes - as it turns out I've never tied a tie." Deke gestured at the blue tie that hung around his neck like a limp snake. "I mean what is the point of these things anyway?"

"Why is the sky blue?" Hunter shrugged dramatically, then winced again. Apparently the pills had no effect yet, even though Jemma swore they were the double strength, fast-release capsules before she took off at dawn to the beauty salon.

Fitz held up a finger. "Actually, there is a pretty good explanation to that. It has to do with the waves light energy travels in..." He halted the explanation when both Hunter and Deke looked at him with matching confused expressions, then he added sheepishly. "Obviously, I'm talking about the sky, not neckties."

"Ok, so can you help me tie mine?" Deke asked impatiently.

"Oh. I used to know how - but with my brain thingy, it's just one of those things I can't do anymore." Fitz shrugged pointing to his head.

"So you remember why the sky is blue but not how to make an Oxford knot?" Hunter raised an eyebrow.

Fitz just shrugged. "I went to MIT."

Hunter let out another exasperated sigh, but got off from the armchair rubbing his chin. "Come on, line up at the mirror," he instructed them.

They stood next to each other with Deke in the middle. All dressed in the same outfit, the similarity between them was even more striking. Hunter showed Deke how to arrange the two sides of the tie then started. "Repeat after me, once the bunny hopped around the tree… Twice, the bunny turned around…" Fitz followed the instructions, his tongue protruding slightly with concentration. In the mirror, he saw Deke working his knot with the same engrossed expression. Their efforts were rewarded by three very decent looking knots.

"We all look rather smashing." Hunter patted both of them on the shoulder. "Must be genetic."

"Are we ready here? We really don't want to be late." Mack's booming voice filled the hotel room, but he seemed visibly nervous as he surreptitiously checked his cuff-links.

"Stop worrying, mate. It's not a big deal, take my word for it." Hunter patted him on the shoulder too. He seemed rather tactile on this fine morning.

Mack gave Hunter a pointed look. "Hunter, you don't exactly have the credentials to be imparting wedding advice." Then he turned to Fitz. "Ready, Turbo?"

Fitz took a last look in the mirror and finger-combed his curls that he let grow out at Jemma's pleading. It did not make any difference; his hair always had a mind of its own. It would have to do. "Let's go."

They entered the chapel together and lined up in the front. The music started and Fitz stood next to Mack spellbound, as he spotted Jemma at the doorway. She wore a silver-gray flowy dress, and her hair was braided with flowers. It wasn't the dress or the hairdo that made him stare with mouth agape though, but the enticing cleavage, … err neckline. __Och, holy chimpanzee, when did her boobs become quite so...so round?__

Hunter elbowed him grinning and handing him the ring box. "Aren't you ashamed to stare like that in this holy place?"

Mack gave both of them a stern look. Fitz reluctantly tore away his eyes from the objects of his desire and focused instead on the other guests: Coulson and May - who looked very unlike May in her bright, flower-patterned dress - were sitting in the front row, holding hands and whispering to each other. Daisy was walking next to Jemma in a similar outfit, laughing at something Deke whispered in her ears from the pews, sticking her tongue out at him in reply. Elena was positively glowing in her white wedding gown, looking tearfully in the direction of Mack. Fitz noted with professional pride that her new arms that he had made for civilian use, looked flawless, even in her quite revealing dress. He also thought gleefully at the surprise Mack had in store with some hidden functions he managed to sneak into the design, unbeknownst to the Director.

"The rings please," the priest said. Fitz stepped forward and gave him the rings, giving an encouraging smile to Mack who greeted his bride with shaking hands, on the verge of tears. They listened to the little speech about love that bridges any divide and Fitz locked eyes with Jemma as Mack and Elena stumbled through their vows in quivering voices. The chapel erupted in cheers as they kissed.

After the ceremony they all piled out of the building, hugging the newlyweds. Elena threw her bouquet, trying to aim at May who was standing awkwardly at the side of the giggling group, but she miscalculated the trajectory and the bunch of yellow and pink flowers ended right on top of Hunter's head to everyone's amusement. Hunter held the bouquet out to Bobbi with a smirk "You see, sweetheart. Fate has chosen us to be together forever." Bobbi just rolled her eyes, but the wistful smile on her lips seemed to tell a different story.

After the dinner and speeches were done, Fitz was standing at the bar nursing a pint of beer to calm his nerves. Thankfully, he managed to get through his best man's speech, which he found more daunting and re-wrote more times than his Ph.D. thesis. Luckily, most of the jokes, featuring prominently the virtues of soccer compared to the abomination that American football was, landed as they were meant to. He may have also mentioned some of the funnier mishaps in the garage or the time Mack tried to organize a surprise birthday party for Yo-Yo agonizing endlessly whether he should choose chocolate or coffee-cream cake.

"Good speech…" Daisy appeared next to him grinning widely. In the time since the team returned with the Zephyr, things had slowly become easier between them. Not yet exactly as it was before, maybe it never would be, but Fitz was thankful for where they were. Their peaceful, mostly friendly co-existence was good, considering everything. "Your grandson is a horrible dancer." Daisy, who seemed to think that there was always a time for one more grandpa joke, took every opportunity to mention Fitz's unruly spawn. Earlier that evening, Fitz had watched with amusement as Daisy, Piper and Yo-Yo took it upon themselves to initiate Deke into the joys of cheesy pop dances.

"I guess it's genetic." Fitz shrugged and took another slow deliberate swig of his beer.

"So, I take it, dancing was not taught in nerd school, only at operations?" Daisy nodded towards May and Coulson who were doing a damn good impression of the closing act of Dirty Dancing.

"It was an elective; we switched to Advanced Simulations after two weeks." Fitz replied with a squint and smiled at Jemma who came to join them. All three of them stared with mouth agape as Coulson spun May as they finished their routine with her legs snaking around Coulson's as he dipped her in the middle of the dancefloor.

"It's true. Fitz practically begged me and vowed to do all my assignments for the whole term if we switch." Jemma shook her head when Daisy offered her a glass full of champagne. Instead she turned to Fitz. "Maybe we should go and see if we still remember anything."

"Good idea! I'll get my camera ready, Fred Astaire." Daisy snickered and pulled her cellphone out of her sparkly clutch bag.

Fitz pondered his options, but there did not seem to be many that wouldn't end up with him in the doghouse - except for the obvious one. So he gallantly held out his hand and led Jemma to the dance floor. His palms felt a bit sweaty against the sheer material of her dress. He pulled her closer as they swayed together to what he hoped was the rhythm of the music. "How's that?" He flashed her a seductive smile, trying to ignore Daisy who was giving him distracting and confusing hand-signals from the sidelines.

"At least you're not keeping me at arm's length like in that dance elective class." Jemma giggled.

"I was desperately trying to keep our dance PG rated… and generally keep things dignified. " Fitz's cheeks felt hot as he recalled how flustered he was that day."

Jemma could not hide her amusement. "Oh, Fitz, of course I knew. It's a perfectly normal reaction. You keep forgetting I had a PhD in biology?"

"You would never let me forget that Dr. Dr. Simmons." Fitz stressed the second doctor sarcastically. Jemma took every opportunity to gloat about her not one, but two PhDs to him during their Academy years.

"I think you mean, Dr Dr Fitz-Simmons…" Jemma corrected him and while they had been called like that for a long time now, from her lips it sounded very different. It sounded like home, like family.

"If you want to hyphenate for real, I think you forget one small but rather important detail." He had long hesitated about whether to bring up the possibility of a second wedding, one that he would actually remember, one where he could say something smarter than the hopelessly botched wedding vows he seemed to have made the first time, but it was such a minefield. Still, this was the perfect opportunity for a trial balloon. "We are not officially married..." He cautiously studied Jemma's expression.

"Are you proposing to me, husband?" she asked with a coy smile.

"I'm considering it, wife." His heart beat faster every time he called her that - it was a heady feeling.

"I'm not against the idea. Imagine, English country wedding, inviting our parents, ladies in proper hats, you in a kilt…" her expression was dreamy. Fitz had no idea why she found the image of a kilt so enticing, but once Simmons latched onto an idea, she was like a bulldog; she rarely let go.

He shuddered. He tried to hide his utter panic at the thought of a whole wedding gathering watching him intently as he pranced around in a kilt and he said on the most neutral voice he could muster. "Hey, you know what, forget about it - why change what works just fine…"

Jemma opened her mouth to argue, but to Fitz's relief the band announced a break. He grabbed her hand and led her away, steering her towards the secluded back terrace he had scouted out earlier. They were lucky; it was empty.

They leaned against the railings looking at the night sky. Tonight the universe did not look threatening; the stars twinkled back at them like millions of benevolently smiling eyes. Fitz leaned closer and kissed Jemma deeply, softly. She responded eagerly and soon his hands were roaming over her body. "I've waited for this the whole night... You're bloody gorgeous, Jemma. Do you think we could sneak off and…?"

"Aaw, get a room, won't you?" Deke interrupted them loudly. Fitz glared at him with annoyance. "I was looking for you guys…all over."

"Can it wait?" he growled, but Jemma just smiled at Deke with that maternal smile of hers. "So what's the big news?"

"You know… Daisy - she, Piper and Yo-Yo were teaching me this funny dance...called Gangnam Style..it's pretty awesome because you have to hop with your legs..like so..." Deke started hopping and waving his hands and Fitz had the sinking feeling that it was to be one of those endless, meandering stories Deke liked to tell.

"Yes we saw," Fitz noted drily. "And we can never unsee it…"

"No, anyways, so she asked me if I considered staying with SHIELD to become a field agent…" Deke seemed quite pleased with the idea, though Fitz suspected that it was more to do with Daisy's person, than with field work.

"I thought you didn't want to stay at SHIELD. I thought we talked about this, Deke. " Jemma looked troubled and elbowed Fitz, who added his pitch too. "You can help me with the new lab we are re-launching for SHIELD…You are pretty skilled at electronics… and.." They had discussed at length the role he could play in helping them rebuild the SHIELD academy and sci-ops labs.

"Yeah, but you guys never let me finish a sentence," Deke complained looking at them with exasperation.

"Go on then," they said at the same time.

"So, what I really wanted to say is that Daisy offered to come with me to Orlando, because she's never been either and we could do all the stuff together. It's supposed to be more fun that way." He seemed excited.

"Why Orlando?" Fitz wondered if out of all places Deke could conceivably visit, Orlando was really the best choice. Admittedly, Epcot and Animal Kingdom were pretty awesome...

"My mum always talked about it - some place we would go to in the multiverse. You know we closed our eyes and imagined where we would be. It's supposed to be magical." Deke was smiling but his eyes were sad.

"Tell us more about her, Deke." Jemma asked quietly.

"Oh, ok, so she loved these stories and books… " Deke started eagerly, happy to talk about the person who connected them in such strange way, his eyes lost in the stars. Fitz looked at Jemma and grabbed her hand. They were thinking the same; finally they were ready to hear the dreams of that little girl they lost - but maybe, just maybe second chances were real. Maybe second encounters were possible and they could make it up to the little girl growing inside Jemma's still hardly noticeable bump. They could make her strawberry-banana pancakes for breakfast, take her to the zoo on Sundays to look at monkeys, they could build sandcastles on the beach and travel to Disney World for her sixth birthday.

"She sounds lovely, Deke." A teardrop shone in Jemma's eyes, reflecting back the starlight.

"She was. And now I finally understand why she adored you guys so much." Deke hugged both of their shoulders.

"What was her name?" Fitz could barely get the words out, he was so overwhelmed by emotions.

"Maggie." Deke's reply was barely a whisper.

Fitz looked at Jemma and he could see in her eyes that she was thinking of the same thing as they smiled at each other with that profound joy that comes after losing everything. Fitz's hand went instinctively over her lower abdomen - he wanted to feel close to her, to both of them.

"Hi, Maggie." he whispered as he pressed his palm over the bump.


End file.
